Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of Ellie
by EvilSeaCaptain
Summary: COMPLETE! Anna-Maria brings aboard Jack's worst nightmare who's name is Ellie (she's four, guys, this is not a romance), madness and a miserable Jack ensues.
1. It Arrives

A/N: Ahoy, me maties! ::Is smacked by muse, a three inch tall Jack Sparrow, hard, for using such a fake, cheesy "pirate" phrase:: Welcome to the first chapter of my first (published) potc fic, although by no means my first fic. Jack is such a hard character to write!! ::watches as muse takes a little bow:: I think I've done him pretty well. :::is hit by muse:: *cough* I mean WE'VE done him pretty well. I'm sorry if Anna-Maria seems a little OOC, but I had to get the kid on the ship. This originally was a sequal to a fic in which I introduced an OC who was going to bring the kid in, but I never posted that fic, so I made it Anna-Maria (as I don't see any other crewmembers picking up kids). She and Jack, btw, are involved, but this is not a romance. Sorry, but it's a comedy. So, right, I DO own A Jack, just not THE JACK. ::is smacked by muse again:: Sorry, yes, sorry, uh ... "No one owns CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, muse form or otherwise." There, happy? I love writing author's notes, they're fun! Anyhow, enjoy and review, and maybe I'll let my muse kiss you as a reward (hehe we know we all want that!).  
  
Chapter One: "It" Arrives  
  
Captain Jack Sparrow was standing at the helm of his ship, the Black Pearl, yelling orders briskly. He was as happy as a clam, despite the fearsome expression on his face. He was watching crew members -- his crew members -- scurry around readying the ship to leave port. He could see the row boat that held Gibbs, his first mate, and Anna-Maria, his girl, rowing quickly towards them. He estimated that they should be ready to make way as soon as they reeled up the row boat. As he watched, the boat drew closer. He became away that Anna-Maria was looking at something sitting on the middle plank of the boat. At first he assumed it was a sack of meal, but as the little boat drew closer, he became aware with a stab of horror that it was a very small person. A little girl, by the looks of the long blonde hair, and about four or five.   
  
The boat reached the side of the Pearl, and a few hands hauled them up. Jack surrendered the helm to Cotton and hurried over. Anna-Maria was helping the child out of the boat.   
  
"Anna-Maria!" he cried. "What is that?"  
  
"It's a little girl, silly," she said with a smile. Jack had never seen her look like that. All luminous and maternal and ... mushy. She certainly never looked like that with him, even when he was being his most dashing, charming self. "Come on, sweetheart, I'll see if I can't rustle you up some food," Anna-Maria said, taking the girl by the hand.  
  
"No! Put it back!" Jack was looking a little hysterical. His eyes were wide and he was gesticulating madly as he always did when he became upset. Anna-Maria had seen him like this twice before. Both times it was because he was suddenly without rum.   
  
"I'm not 'putting it back'. She was starving, and in Tortuga of all places, Jack. Don't you have any compassion?"  
  
"I have loads of compassion!" Jack said, indignantly. But I hate children, he thought, but did not say.   
  
"Good," said Anna-Maria, briskly. "Then taking this child to Port Royale, where we are going next, I might add, will be no problem."   
  
"We're a week away from Port Royale! And we're not going there anyway!" wailed Jack.   
  
"Well, then I suppose she shall have to stay on the ship until we do go to Port Royale. Whenever that may be."   
  
Jack studied the determined expression on Anna-Maria's face, then looked at the child. Suppressing a shudder, he said,   
  
"Okay. Port Royale it is."   
  
"Lovely," said Anna-Maria. "Come on, Ellie." She started leading the child below deck, presumably to the galley. Jack stood stunned for a moment, before shaking his head and turning to the helm, wondering what he had gotten himself into this time.   
  
Jack rolled over in his sleep. Ouch. Something hard. Oh, right. Helm. He'd slept on the deck last night. Ouch, wait. Not the ship. Definitely something right on his stomach. Heavy. Feet? Feet! Oh, God.   
  
Jack opened his eyes, and promptly screamed very loudly.   
  
The little girl was standing on his chest. She was regarding him imperiously, and she had one hand on the helm to steady herself.   
  
"Get it off! Off!" Jack yelled, and started to stand up. The little girl took a flying leap of petticoats, and was soon perched on the top of the helm. Jack stood up just as it rolled sideways, spilling the girl onto the deck and sending the mast flying right at Jack. He tried to duck, but miscalculated and was flung off of the deck. Unlike Will, he did not manage to hang on, but instead was thrown into the water. The ship was now sailing merrily along uninhibited in the total wrong direction, and Jack was floundering in the water. He stared, stunned, as his own ship sailed away without him, then yelled,   
  
"MAN OVERBOARD!"   
  
This was sure to bring the entire crew on deck, and indeed it did. They were all running around, calling both his name, and "Who's overboard? Where? Capt'n, where are yeh?"   
  
"I'M OVER HERE, YOU BLOODY IDIOTS!" Jack yelled.   
  
Gibbs spotted him first, and made quick work of throwing him a rope. On deck, he took a minute to right himself. Anna-Maria was at the helm, compass out, and redirecting the Pearl onto her original course. The little girl was clinging to the sash that she had tied around her waist. Jack stalked over. He rarely stalked anywhere; he more often sashayed. But now … he stalked.   
  
"IT," he enunciated, "leaves. Now."   
  
"First of all, she is not an 'it', Jack."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm not a 'Jack'. I'm a 'Captain Jack.'"   
  
"Regardless, there's nowhere for her to go to."   
  
"Throw it overboard!" Jack stuck staunchly to "it" to make a point.   
  
"I'm not throwing her overboard!"   
  
"It threw me overboard!"   
  
Anna-Maria rolled her eyes in an exasperated fashion. Without a word, she picked up the … the … thing and walked below decks.   
  
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed, please review and earn kisses from Jack. ::watches Jack-the-Muse preen:: More to come, hopefully. In other words, pray my muse is in a good mood! 


	2. Are you trying to kill me?

A/N: Hello, there, readers! So many positive reviews, ::happy, happy, happy:: Jack salutes you, but says I am very mean to him in this chapter. Oh, well. I'm always mean to characters I like. Please review, and my muse says to pity him.   
  
Chapter Two: Are you trying to kill me?  
  
Jack Sparrow had hit the rum that night and was just now waking up, safe in his own bunk, with the doors bolted, and was in a considerably better mood. After all, they were only four days away from Port Royal. He could make it four days, right? Rum always made him feel better. Rum also always made him feel sleepier, too.   
  
There was a loud knocking on the door, and Anna-Maria said,   
  
"Jack? Jack, wake up, you drunken pirate!"   
  
Then again …   
  
Jack disentangled himself from the mass of bed linins that he was wrapped up in, and swaggered over to the door, shaking loose bits of cloth from his person as he went. Undoing a few locks, he opened the door, and squinted into the bright sunlight. There was also an extremely annoying pillow case still stuck to him (tangled in the braids, damn it all), so, rather distracted, he merely grunted something close to a greeting and started working on the sadistic piece of cloth.   
  
"Jack, pay attention." Anna-Maria had this annoying habit of being able to tell exactly what he was thinking at any given moment. It really was obnoxious. Jack liked to be construed as mysterious and aloof.   
  
"'m payin' 'tention," Jack slurred, still not quite awake, and returned to his previous train of thought.   
  
While Jack was contemplating ways to get Anna-Maria to a, stop reading his thoughts, and b, get this damned pillowcase out of his hair, Anna-Maria decided he still wasn't paying quite enough attention to her to suit her. So, she cast around for something to wake him up. Picking up Ellie, she lifted the little girl right under Jack's nose.   
  
Jack didn't notice her for a minute; he was too absorbed in the pillow case (literally and figuratively). In the last few seconds, in his sleepy stupor he had managed to wrap the pillow case around his eyes. He yanked it off, opened his eyes, and saw two pretty, rather large blue eyes staring right back at him.   
  
"AUGHH!" Jack screamed. This served only to amuse Ellie, who laughed. This upset Jack further, who stumbled backwards over a discarded blanket. He barely managed to keep it feet, and yelled,   
  
"BLOODY HELL, ANNA, ARE YOU TRYIN' TO KILL ME?"  
  
Anna-Maria gave him a disparaging look.   
  
"Jack, I am not trying to kill you. All I did was wake you up. Otherwise you would have wandered around the ship in a sleepy - or drunken; I'm not sure which -- stupor, all day, and would have been no help at all."   
  
Jack drew himself up, insulted, and said,   
  
"And just why did you need to wake me up with that thing?"  
  
Ellie frowned up at him, and said, tersely,   
  
"I'm not a thing!"   
  
Jack jumped.   
  
"It talked!" he said, astonished.   
  
"Well, of course she talks!" said Anna-Maria.  
  
"I talk!" said Ellie, angrily. "Just not to you, because you're mean!"   
  
"Now, see here, you little …" Jack restrained himself from calling it something that most certainly would have earned him a slap from Anna-Maria, and barked, "I am not mean!" He froze. "No, of course I'm mean! I'm a pirate!"   
  
"Anna-Maria's and pirate. An' she's not mean!" Ellie said, stubbornly. "You're mean. You call me an 'it'. You wanted to throw me overboard."   
  
"Well, you threw me overboard!"   
  
"It was an accident!"   
  
Anna-Maria had had enough, and she intervened.   
  
"Jack, exactly who is the five-year-old here?"  
  
Jack pointed at Ellie with one bejeweled hand and opened his mouth to say more, but Anna-Maria cut him off.   
  
"Jack, I need you to look after Ellie."   
  
"NO!" Jack's response was immediate. "You brought her onboard, you look after her!"   
  
Anna-Maria sighed and said,   
  
"Jack, only for a few minutes. Most of the crew is still asleep, and there's a problem with the rigging that I need to deal with."   
  
"Well, wake Gibbs up!"   
  
"He's drunk, Jack. Not everyone has the high tolerance from excessive use that you do."   
  
Jack frowned deeply, trying to look ferocious. Anna-Maria regarded him coolly, and said,  
  
"It'll only be for an hour or so, Jack."   
  
"You are trying to kill me, aren't you?" said Jack, weakening.  
  
Anna-Maria rolled her eyes, and knelt down to speak to Ellie.   
  
"Ellie, I want you to stay here with Jack. I've got something I have to do, but I'll be back in an hour or so."   
  
"But he's mean!" wailed Ellie. Jack tried to look proud and frown ferociously at once, and he came off looking sick, instead.   
  
"I know, but he won't be mean to you today, I promise." Anna-Maria said this last bit with special emphasis and gave Jack a "if-you-know-what's-best-for-you" look. Ellie sighed and relented, and Anna-Maria stood up and left the cabin without another word.   
  
Jack stared down wordlessly at the little girl in front of him. Ellie had her hands on her hips and was looking sullen.   
  
"How is it," he asked, slowly, "that I do you this wonderful favor by taking you on my ship, yet you still do your absolute best to annoy the hell out of me?"  
  
"Anna-Maria took me on her boat, not you!"   
  
Jack's eyes bulged a little.   
  
"HER SHIP?" he roared. "The Pearl IS MINE, YOU UNDERSTAND, you little sea urchin!"   
  
Ellie was unfazed by this outburst.   
  
"I'm going outside," she said, and turned to leave. Jack made a lunge for her --   
  
"Oh, no you don't!" he said. "I've got to take care of you!" He picked her up under one arm with extreme distaste and headed below decks. 


	3. To think about what you've done

Hello, there readers! So many reviews! ::is happy:: This chapter's a bit short, because my muse has had to facillitate the writing of some other originals I've been working on, so he's a little outdone. Didn't want to make ya'll wait, though, so I made him work a bit more. ::watches Jack-the-muse lying on his side on the desk, panting heavily.:: Hope you enjoy, and please review, and Jack will dance for you! ::watches as Jack gives me a shocked look and passes out:: Oh well. When he wakes up!   
  
Chapter Three: To think about what you've done  
  
Cotton was the first one to hear the hysterical screams of the five-year-old. He knew Anna-Maria was up in the sails, and he decided to investigate. The ear-splitting noise was coming from down below, and his parrot refused to follow him down there. Holding a hand over either ear, Cotton made his way towards the source of the sound. It led him down to the brig, where Jack was standing across from the cell, looking vindicated and quite pleased with himself. The little girl was standing inside the cell, shaking the bars and screaming her head off. When she saw Cotton enter, she yelled,   
  
"HELP ME! HE'S LOCKED ME IN HERE! GET ANNA-MARIA!"   
  
Cotton looked stunned, then turned to do just that, but Jack grabbed him before he could make it out of the brig.   
  
"Do not," he warned, "get Anna-Maria, or I'll lock you in here, too, savvy?" He gave Cotton's shoulders a vicious shake and growled menacingly, all of his good humor from a moment ago vanished without a trace. Cotton gave him a startled nod, and scurried up the stairs.   
  
"You monster!" cried Ellie, furiously.   
  
"Why?" asked Jack, conversationally. Now that he was out of the reach of her clutching sticky little fingers, he felt much more secure, and that much more tolerant of the little brat.   
  
"You locked me in this jail!" Ellie was looking absolutely daggers at the pirate before her. Jack swayed back a little and put a hand to his breast as if insulted. Ellie looked as if she expected him to apologize, but instead he said,   
  
"Love, it's called a brig."   
  
"Don't call me 'love'!" Ellie barked, hope going from her face.   
  
"'Course not, love."   
  
Ellie growled at him.   
  
"If you don't let me out right now, I am going to scream again!"   
  
"Go ahead," said Jack, enjoying this. "Anna-Maria's up in the sails … she can't hear you. And I'm leaving."   
  
Ellie opened her mouth and started that endless wail of hers. Jack started up the stairs, hiding his grimace from her. Half-way up, though, she hit a particularly high note and he swayed so violently that he started, tripped over something (he wouldn't realize until later that it was that damned pillow-case, not as gone as he had thought). He tumbled down backwards down the stairs. Gold coins went flying everywhere from various pockets on his clothes, and his usual jewelry jingled madly. He made quite a ruckus.   
  
Ellie had stopped screaming long enough to stare at him, and when he landed, and shook his head, looking dazed, she burst into mirthful laughter. Jack was not nearly as amused. He managed to get himself to his feet and started putting the coins back into their respective pockets. He stood up and stalked towards her (it seemed he had been doing that a lot lately …) and opened his mouth to tell her off for laughing at him, when suddenly he felt the cool, smooth metal of a sword tip press against his neck.   
  
Jack turned slowly, the usual look of vague surprise he always wore when faced with a sword tip (or a gun barrel, or a cutlass, or a dagger, or the hand of an angry woman, or any other dangerous instrument that could do harm to his very valuable person) on his face now.   
  
Anna-Maria held the sword, and she was looking very, very angry. Jack gave her his most winning smile.   
  
"Parlay?" he suggested.   
  
Anna-Maria said nothing, but steered him at sword-point into the cell opposite Ellie's. She backed out quickly and locked him in. Then she marched over to Ellie and unlocked the little girl.   
  
"Ellie, you go up on deck, I'm going to have a few words with Captain Jack here." Ellie nodded, gave her a quick hug, and disappeared. Then Anna-Maria lit into him.   
  
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, JACK SPARROW!"   
  
Jack held up a finger.   
  
"Captain Jack, if you ple--"  
  
"JACK!" Anna-Maria barked in a voice that suggested that now was not the time for flippancy. "YOU LOCKED HER IN THE BRIG! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING? I AM SPEECHLESS!"   
  
"This is mutiny, you know," said Jack, calmly. "Let me out, Anna-Maria."   
  
"NO!" said Anna-Maria. Then, more calmly, "I don't think I will. I think I'll leave you down here for a bit to think about what you've done."   
  
"What are you, my mother?" asked Jack, sarcastically. Anna-Maria said nothing, but marched upstairs, leaving an extremely apprehensive Jack to wonder if she was going to rally the sailors into committing mutiny. Not a good thing, not again. And apparently this was the end of THIS relationship. He highly doubted he could ever woo her back, not as mad as she was now. For when Anna-Maria got mad, she stayed mad. And it was all that little brat's fault! Jack began to cast around for a way to escape the cell. 


	4. I don't like when people yell

A/N: Hello, readers! yay, reviews! They are making us happy! This is a somewhat short chapter, but I think it is an important one. Apologies for it's length, but my muse is utterly exhausted (and I was up late last night, so I'm tired). Anyhoo, please enjoy, because this was kind of a hard one to write and still keep Jack in character. Let me know if you think I did (or if you didn't think I did).   
  
It took Jack a full three minutes to remember that he kept a set of the keys to the brig tucked under one of his various sashes, but another five to dig them out. Quite fortunately, Anna-Maria did not know he had those keys, so, with luck, he would be able to deliver his favorite line ("I'm Captain Jack Sparrow"). His thoughts darkened suddenly. The crew wouldn't dare mutiny … would they? He trotted up the stairs two at a time, and then came to an abrupt stop when he was faced with Ellie, giving him a venomous look. He teetered dangerously on the edge of the top step, and had to grab the rickety rail to keep from falling again.   
  
"What do you want now?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down. All of his usual good humor had been completely worn away, revealing raw nerves. All because of this kid!   
  
The little girl held out a set of keys. Jack stared at them in consternation.  
  
"I was going to let you out."   
  
Jack was completely nonplussed. He worked his mouth a few times, then asked,   
  
"Well, why's that love?"   
  
"'Cause Anna-Maria was mean to you."   
  
Jack lowered his eyebrows, not understanding.   
  
"She yelled at you a lot. I don't like when people yell."   
  
There was something really pitiful in the little girl's voice. Jack had a flash of the emotion that, as a pirate, he always tried to repress, the very thing Anna-Maria had accused him of not having: compassion. Jack knelt down so that he was eye-to-eye with Ellie.  
  
"Did someone yell at you, love?"   
  
"My papa."   
  
"Does he live in Tortuga?"  
  
"Not anymore. He left when my mother died."   
  
"So you were in Tortuga alone?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Suddenly, Ellie ducked her head as if embarrassed, handed the keys to Jack, and scurried away above decks, leaving Jack kneeling like a fool at the top of the stairs. He didn't move for a moment, but worked the keys through his fingers, studying them idly.  
  
"That's interesting …" he murmured. "That's very interesting."   
  
A/N: I know, I know. I told you it was short. I know I used Jack's too-often-used-in-fanfic phrase "That's interesting", but I genuinely thought it fit here. Let me know if you think so, please!! Sorry, no kisses from Jack this time; he's asleep, poor little muse. He's very tired. ::gives Jack a pat on the head:: 


	5. Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and ...

A/N: Ahoy, readers! ::ducks smack from muse:: Jack has recovered considerably, so you get TWO chapters today; feel lucky. ::Jack bows:: I really like this one, but it was hard to write, like the last one. It's much longer than last time, so yay! Tell me if you think I've got Jack right here; I was a little worried. Which is why it was so hard. Anyhow, I love this chapter, but it's making me think maybe I should make this humor/drama instead of humor/general. Anyhow, let me know what you think! Oh btw, to the reviewer who corrected me on "parlay", it actually is "parlay". "Parler" is the infinitive "to talk". "Parlay" is actually a word, and it means a discussion, as in a negotiation. For example, "It's time we had a parlay." I also use the word "pow-wow", hehe, but that's cowboys and indians, not pirates, but it works the same way!!   
  
Chapter Five: Aye, but we're loved by our Mommies and Dads...  
  
Anna-Maria crawled down from the sails with a satisfied sigh. She'd fixed up the problem quicker than anticipated. Jack was out of the way, and she suspected Ellie was a little happier for the time being. What a sweet child … so small and alone in the world, yet so brave. The thought of Ellie brought a smile to her lips. Yes, Anna-Maria was in an excellent mood. That is, until she heard Jack Sparrow's voice. How the blazes had he gotten out of the brig?! Furious, she stalked to the helm, where she could hear Jack's voice.   
  
"Yo HO, it's yo HO! Not 'yo NO'! Now, come on, love, try this - We kindle 'n char, inflame 'n ignite …"   
  
Anna-Maria came in sight of the helm, and stopped short. Gibbs was actually steering, not Jack, as she had guessed. Jack was sitting on an overturned mop bucket and Ellie was sitting at his feet. He was apparently in the process of teaching her the words to his bloody pirate song, which he insisted on signing all the time.   
  
"We kindle 'n char, inflame 'n ignite!" mimicked Ellie in a high, clear voice.   
  
"That's it, love, you've got it!" cried Jack, happily, and prepared to start in on the next line, when he saw Anna-Maria.   
  
"Oh, dear," he said, and then stood up and gave Anna-Maria a little salute. "Madam."   
  
"Jack," Anna-Maria sighed, rolling her eyes skyward. "I don't suppose I should be surprised."   
  
Jack, seeing he was not going to be asked one of the "how" questions he always loved, improvised.   
  
"'Course not, love! I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" He spread his hands in a "can-I-help-it-if-I'm-great" manner. Anna-Maria shook her head.   
  
"Well, at least you and Ellie are getting along."   
  
"Getting along? 'Course not, can't wait for the little brat to leave," he said, offhandedly and gruffly, but he winked at Ellie, and she giggled.  
  
"I hate him!" she cried, with real feeling. Anna-Maria stared at the two of them, a little shocked.   
  
"Anna, love, do me a favor -- Gibbs still asleep, go slop a bucket on him," said Jack, with authority.  
  
"Uh - Ellie, I uh --"  
  
"Bye," waved Ellie, cheerfully, and Anna-Maria stumbled off, confused.   
  
Jack bust into laughter as soon as she was out of earshot.   
  
"Not bad, little britches - ye're quite an actress." Ellie gave him a grin. "Now what say I teach you the rest of that song, eh?"   
  
Anna-Maria was fast asleep when Ellie crept out of the small room that they shared. She slipped silently up the helm, and joined Jack, where he had just relieved a tired Gibbs of the wheel.   
  
"Lovely morning, eh, pet?" he said, with a smile.   
  
"Lovely," she said, giving him a little salute.   
  
Jack was in a particularly good mood this morning. He'd slept well the night before, and this little brat … well, wasn't all that bad, really. Well, she was at least … bearable… sort of … Plus, he was up early, he was sailing the Pearl, and it looked like a sunny day ahead. Yes, life was good.   
  
It was because Jack was in such a good mood that he started singing again. It wasn't long before Ellie joined in, and soon they were belting the song at the tops of their lungs. It woke up various crew members, and they started to drift onto the deck, yawning, scratching, mumbling about hangovers and food and how Jack was too bloody loud in the mornings.   
  
Anna-Maria was having a very strange dream. Something about Jack and Ellie and being friends. She was still mired in the stupor of the dream when she started hearing singing. Very loud singing. It sounded like Jack … and Ellie? Anna-Maria was instantly awake, and she hurried out of her cabin. Indeed, there was Ellie and Jack, at the helm. Ellie had an arm looped through Jack's arm, and he was scrunched down just a little so that she could reach it. They were harmonizing, singing their way through all five verses, which Ellie had seemingly learned to perfection. She had acquired a little of Jack's jewelry -- a couple of rings were hooked around her fingers, and Anna-Maria recognized the pearl necklace that Jack had thieved from Isla de Meurta two summers ago.   
  
"Jack!" Anna-Maria couldn't restrain her cry of surprise.  
  
"Oh, good morning, Anna!" said Jack, amicably. "Hope we didn't wake you." He winked down to Ellie.   
  
"I'm going to be a pirate!" announced Ellie, happily. "Like you an' Jack!"   
  
"An admirable decision," said Jack, solemnly. "Now, put yer hands here on the helm and I'll teach ye how to steer the Pearl. You can be me first mate!" At this, he picked his old tri-cornered hat up off of his head and plopped it onto Ellie's smaller one. It was far too big for her and it immediately slid over her eyes. She laughed and pushed it back a little so that she could see, and placed her hands where Jack had indicated.   
  
Anna-Maria was speechless. Who in all the seven seas was this, and what in God's name had he done with Captain Jack Sparrow? Anna-Maria had never seen him look like that. All luminous and paternal and ... mushy. He certainly never looked like that with her, even when she was being her most alluring, feminine (with was rare) self. She shook her head in amazement.   
  
"Captain --" Gibbs walked up, looking a little worse for the wear, as he always did in the morning, and said, "Ye realize ye've turned off of the course fer Port Royale -"   
  
"Shh!" Jack said, poking the pirate in the side.   
  
"What's this?" asked Anna-Maria. Jack looked up at the sky with such surprise that it might have suddenly turned bright orange. She walked closer to the helm. "Jack? What's this?" He looked down at her, pretending he hadn't noticed her before.   
  
"What's what, darling?"  
  
"Why aren't we going to Port Royale? We have to drop Ellie off."   
  
"Nay, well, I figure, there's good pillaging to be done in other parts of the Main, and she's not so much of a bother we can't keep her on a while longer, so's we don't miss any other opportunities because of her, eh?"   
  
"Jack, we're only about twelve hours from Port Royale. Whyn't we just drop her off, and then go pillagin'? Have ye gone daft?"   
  
Jack looked at her, surprised.   
  
"Aren't I already?"   
  
"Jack, talk straight."   
  
"Well, if she's goin' to be a pirate, she might as well learn early!" said Jack, loudly, changing tactics.   
  
"She is not going to be a pirate," said Anna-Maria, annoyed.   
  
"Yes, I am!" said Ellie.   
  
"See?" said Jack, pointing down at the little girl. Anna-Maria ignored this.  
  
"Jack, she is going to live with Will and Elizabeth and have a good upbringing. She's not going to be a pirate!"   
  
"You're a pirate, I'm a pirate, what's wrong with pirates?" asked Jack.   
  
"Nothin', but Ellie ought to grow up in a decent home!"   
  
Ellie was looking back a forth from Anna-Maria's face to Jack's face as they argued as if there were a ball flying back and forth between them.   
  
"She needs parents!" continued Anna-Maria.   
  
"Well, what's wrong with me?!" Jack finally exploded.   
  
There was a stunned silence on the deck of the Pearl.   
  
"You?!" Anna-Maria finally said, incredulous. "You couldn't parent a cat, Jack! Between whores, rum, and pirating, you've precious little time to raise a child!"   
  
"Well, why can't you help me?!"   
  
Anna-Maria and Gibbs, who was still standing there, were staring at him as if he'd lost his mind.  
  
"Well, I'm not cut out to be a mother, either!" Anna-Maria cried.  
  
"Well, between the two of us --"   
  
"Jack, no! She is not staying on the Pearl; I can't believe we're even considering it! She's going to Port Royale! Now turn this ship back on course, now!"   
  
Jack was about to speak, when suddenly the light pressure than had been Ellie's hand on his sash disappeared. He looked down and didn't see the little girl. Looking up, he saw her run across the deck and disappear down in the hold.   
  
"Now see here, Anna," he said, weakly. "You've upset her --" He started off after her.   
  
Ellie was sitting on a stool in the brig when Jack found her. She had her back to hi, and he didn't say anything for a moment, because she was singing, quietly and mournfully under her breath.   
  
"We're beggers and blighters and ne'er do well cads … drink up, me hearties, yo ho … aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads … drink up, me hearties, yo ho."   
  
A/N: more to come soon, fear not! There may be some Will and Elizabeth in the next chapter, yay! And I finally got a plot in mind for this, whereas before I was just writing Jack-hates-kid nonsense, but hooray now I have DIRECTION! wonderful! ::Jack bows again:: Well, review, review, review!! 


	6. Heartstrings

A/N: Well, here it is, the final chapter!! ::sniff:: I could have split this into two chapters, but I would have uploaded them at the same time, and it's quicker to just upload one long on. Yes, Jack and I are lazy. Deal with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it made me cry. I know, I am a mushy person. Oh, well. Enjoy this last chapter!  
  
Chapter Six: Heartstrings   
  
"But, Jack, I don't wanna go there!"   
  
Jack sighed deeply from his gut. Somehow, he felt completely terrible. He had nothing to say to this. What would he say? Anna-Maria had convinced him that if he really cared for Ellie, he wouldn't let her grow up in the squalor of a ship? How would he explain that to her, when he really didn't understand it himself?   
  
Jack decided in the end not to answer. Instead, he tugged a little harder on Ellie's hand, leading her down the streets of Port Royale. If he remembered correctly, Will's little house was just down this street.   
  
He didn't bother to knock, just barged in, pulling a reluctant Ellie behind him.  
  
"Will!" he yelled. "Elizabeth!"   
  
"What?" came the distant voice of the eunuch. "Who is it? We're coming!"  
  
Ellie hid behind Jack when there was the "thud, thud, thud" of Will's footfalls on the stairs and the "pat, pat, pat" of Elizabeth's slippers.   
  
"It'll be fine, love," he reassured her.   
  
Will stepped out of the stairwell and saw Jack.   
  
"Jack!" he cried in surprise, unable to repress a smile. Elizabeth stepped out as well, and she, too, smiled.   
  
"Jack, so good to see you!" Jack bent low over her hand and kissed it, giving her a cheeky grin.   
  
"Elizabeth, darling, you're looking wonderful."   
  
She rolled her eyes a little, but then suddenly noticed Ellie.   
  
"Jack!" she cried in surprise. "Who's that?" Jack felt Ellie cringe, and he saw Will crane his neck to see whom Elizabeth was pointing at.   
  
"Elizabeth, Will … this is Ellie." He tried to disentangle Ellie's fingers from his sash so that he could pull her out for Elizabeth to see. She wouldn't cooperate, however, and remained staunchly stable behind his legs.   
  
"Ellie …" he pleaded a little. "Come on."   
  
"No."   
  
Jack did not know what to do. Ever since they had forged a friendship, Ellie had never actually disobeyed her. Not, of course, that he had actually asked her to do that much. He was at a loss.   
  
Elizabeth, however, seemed to know what to do. She knelt down so that she was looking through Jack's legs at the little girl.   
  
"Hello there, Ellie," she said, in the same voice Jack had heard Anna-Maria first use with the child. "My name is Elizabeth Turner. Why don't you come out so Will and I can meet you?" She gestured to her nonplussed-looking husband. "This is Will, my husband."   
  
Ellie wavered for a moment more, but Elizabeth was smiling invitingly, and she reluctantly released Jack's sash. Jack let out a little breath of relief - she had nearly been choking him; she had been holding on so tight.  
  
Elizabeth held out a friendly hand for Ellie to take, which she did, albeit a bit nervously. Elizabeth introduced her to Will, who shook her hand with a little wonder. Like Jack had been, he was unaccustomed to little children. Though they had been married almost five years now, the two had been unable to have children, a source of pain for both of them.   
  
When he stood up from shaking Ellie's hand she stepped back away from Elizabeth to stand by Jack, but she did not look much frightened anymore, and she merely stood by Jack.   
  
"Now tell me how you happened to acquire a child, Jack," said Will, a hint of amusement tugging at the corners of his lips.   
  
"Anna-Maria brought her aboard," Jack explained. "She was in Tortuga."   
  
"Alone?"  
  
"Yes. And the thing is -- the thing is --" Jack was about to ask them to take her, when he looked down at Ellie, and stumbled him. She was watching him with her usual wide-eyed expression, and it suddenly tugged at his heartstrings. Hard.   
  
Anna-Maria was right. He knew she was. They had talked long and hard about it the night after their argument, after Ellie had gone to bed. Ellie just couldn't grow up on a ship. She deserved more than that (which was Anna-Maria's line, and the argument that had really won Jack over, not to mention making him feel bad about wanting to hinder her life by keeping her on the ship). She deserved an education, and the chance to grow up as a young lady. But that didn't change the fact that Jack didn't want to let her go. It was troubling him deeply. Captain Jack Sparrow wasn't supposed to need anyone: he was a pirate, for God's sake! He would follow the code to end, and if you cared for someone, and they fell behind, you might be tempted to do something stupid, and go back for them, thereby risking your own hide. But here he was, Jack Sparrow, most feared pirate in the Caribbean, and yet he was having difficulty leaving a five year old kid with friends. What a pitiful excuse for a pirate he was …  
  
"Yes?" Elizabeth prompted, breaking Jack out of his reverie. "The thing is …?"   
  
"Well," said Jack, slowly. "The thing is, she can't grow up on a ship. As a pirate." He smiled down at Ellie. "Not that she wouldn't make a good one, eh, mate?"   
  
"Aye," said Ellie, sadly. She was looking down at her shoes now. When Jack had told her two nights ago that they were still taking her to Port Royale, she had been very angry at him. She had even slapped him, and broken his best bottle of rum, spilling the rich contents all over the floor of his cabin. She had then stalked off to go to bed. Jack had skulked around the ship, miserable, the next day until she had forgiven him, and had allowed him to explain that he was taking her back for her own good. She was not any more convinced than he.   
  
"And," Jack continued, "I was hoping that you would take her. And raise her, you know." When Will and Elizabeth were silent, Jack continued on.   
  
"I'd send money, o' course. She's no trouble at all, are yeh, love?"   
  
Will and Elizabeth looked at each other. Jack determinedly looked anywhere but at them, so nervous was he of their answer. Maybe, just maybe, they would say "no". Which would mean he could say, "Well, we tried!" and Ellie could come back onboard. He hoped, but when he looked up and saw Will and Elizabeth looking at each other with that mushy, luminous look in their eyes, he knew he had lost her.   
  
***  
  
When Anna-Maria saw Jack walking back towards the Pearl, it tugged on her heartstrings in the same way Ellie had the first time she had seen her, all alone on the corner of the street in Tortuga, dirty and hungry. Jack had that same sad, hungry, lonely look in his eyes now. They were cast down and he was walking slowly. He was still sashaying, as was his usual manner, but he kicked each foot out in front of the other in a listless, slow manner that lacked his usual vibrant energy. He walked up the plank onto the ship, and gave his best attempt at a bright smile to Anna-Maria, who was not in the least fooled.   
  
"Is she at Will and Elizabeth's?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah," said Jack. "She's got her own room, and everything. I think she'll be happy."   
  
It was true. That was what hurt the most. She did look like she'd be happy. She had been amazed by the little room Will had fixed up for her. It was just a pallet on the floor now, but Will had promised to build her a bed the next day. Elizabeth had blathered on and on about school, and clothes, and how much fun she was going to have cooking for her, that Ellie had looked a little overwhelmed at first, but by the end of it, she looked so excited that Jack could hardly stand it. She even gave Elizabeth a hug. Consequently, Jack was miserable.   
  
"Well, it's for the best," said Anna-Maria, and she was surprised at how easily the words fell from her lips. She'd miss Ellie, too. That was why she had sent Jack to take her to the Turners. She didn't think she could bear to do it herself, and there was no way in all the seas that Anna-Maria was going let anyone or anything make her cry, least of all that little girl, and least of all in front of someone.   
  
"Yeah …" said Jack. "But I want to check on her … next time we're around here…"  
  
"O' course," said Anna-Maria, with an almost wistful note in her voice. She wasn't so sure she had done right by letting Jack taking her. She'd missed some time with Ellie. She had said her good-byes on the ship: a handshake (Anna-Maria didn't hug, on principle) and a quick, "See ya, kiddo." She wondered if Ellie had hugged Jack, and that made her feel jealous and worried.   
  
Ellie had hugged Jack, but only around the waist. Jack had just been leaving, and he had said,   
  
"Well, pirate, guess this is it. I'll be seeing yeh, when yeh're all civilized." He had been debating on whether or not to shake her hand, or pat her on the shoulder, or something, before leaving, when she had suddenly thrown herself at his waist and hugged him, hard.   
  
"Goodbye, Jack!" she had said, sounding tearful. Jack was so stunned for a moment that he didn't say anything, just awkwardly patted her head. He looked up to see Will and Elizabeth standing arm and arm looking at him with this obnoxious gooey look on their faces that said very clearly that they were not fooled at all. They knew exactly what kind of a hold this little girl had on him. He wanted to kneel down and hug her back, harder, but because of this look, he settled for a gruff,   
  
"It's Captain Jack, love." She let go of him, and gave him a wave. And then Jack had nothing to do but just back out of the shop, close the door behind him, and head back to the Pearl. The Pearl. His only real love, right? The Pearl and his whiskey. Yes, there was a big jug of rum with his name written on it in his cabin, and as he stood on the deck with Anna-Maria now, it was calling to him. His only solace in times of trouble. So he said nothing more, save giving the order to haul in the anchor and hoist sails, then disappeared into his cabin.   
  
***  
  
Jack survived about three weeks before giving the order that they return to Port Royale.   
  
"I've got to make sure she's happy," he'd said. "It's me duty. To make sure that eunuch isn't ruinin' 'er."   
  
"Ruinin' her?" Anna-Maria had asked, confused.   
  
"You know … civilizing 'er, and all that rot."   
  
"Jack, that's the point, you know."   
  
"Well, jus' so long as he isn't, yeh know, makin' pirates sound bad."   
  
"Jack, his father was a pirate."   
  
Jack didn't care that he was being irrational. He had to get back to Ellie. It had occurred to him a few nights ago, when he was brooding with his ale, that there were many things he ought to teach Ellie, and hadn't when he'd had the chance. Like the pirates code. She should know that. And how to man a ship. It was important, really. Things every young lady should know.   
  
It was Anna-Maria who convinced him to wait before returning, however. Jack was at the helm, a working compass in his hand, steering towards Port Royale, when she approached him.   
  
"Jack," she said, "We ought to wait a bit before going back."  
  
"Why's that?" asked Jack, eager to make all haste to Ellie.   
  
"Because, well, you don't want to interfere with her getting used to Will and Elizabeth. Like it or not, that's her home now, and she's going to be happier if you don't barge in there all the time and remind her of the ship. Go once she's settled."   
  
"It's been three weeks! She's settled now!"   
  
"Jack …" Anna-Maria sighed, but it wasn't an exasperated sigh. It was a sad one, and it made Jack look at her. "I miss Ellie, too, yeh know," she said, in a small voice.   
  
"I don't miss Ellie," said Jack, indignantly. "It's me duty to make sure she's happy!"   
  
"Jack," said Anna-Maria, now sounding exasperated. That was not the reaction she was hoping for.  
  
"Alright …" admitted Jack. "Maybe I do miss 'er."   
  
"'O course you do."   
  
"A little."   
  
Jack sighed again, and looked out over the sea. Then he sighed, checked his compass, and turned the wheel, turning the Pearl off of the course to Port Royale.   
  
"Three more weeks," he said, firmly.   
  
Anna-Maria nodded.   
  
***  
  
The three weeks passed without incident. Jack kept pillaging and plundering foremost in his mind to pass the time quicker, and to his surprise, he noticed Anna-Maria doing the same. She had brought Ellie up once, and then seemed to feel almost guilty. It had surprised Jack. He had surprised himself, too, by what he had done next.   
  
"I s'pose Ellie's started school now," she had said. It was a scene similar to their last conversation about the child. They were at the helm, alone, and it was night.   
  
"I s'pose so," Jack had said, trying not to think about it. He felt Anna-Maria stiffen and silence, and she said nothing more. He looked at her though. She was staring out over the sea, not really seeing, but looking terribly sad, for Anna-Maria, who usually had only three expressions: neutral, mildly happy and very, very angry. It gave him that strange flippy, tugging feeling around his chest that Ellie gave him. So he surprised both of them by doing what he would have done with Ellie if Will and Elizabeth hadn't been standing there: he hugged her.   
  
He guessed that that was the end of the rift that had appeared between them when Ellie had arrived. It was funny: she had dragged them apart when she was there, but now that she was gone, she had pulled them back together.   
  
What a ridiculous man he was getting to be, Jack reflected as he held Anna-Maria. That little child had made the most effeminate pirate out of him. He ought to be disgusted with himself, he told himself sternly, but it did no good.   
  
Oh, well. It wasn't as if he was going to be soft on the crew. Or Anna-Maria, most of the time. This was an exception. But then, so was Ellie. A major, major exception to his whole life.   
  
***  
  
Jack almost didn't recognize Ellie when he saw her. He and Anna-Maria were standing at the door of the little house, and Anna-Maria had convinced him to actually knock instead of just barging in.   
  
Jack had been in a state of emotional haywire the day leading up to their arrival in Port Royale. He had drunk himself into a stupor the night before, and was just coming out of it that last day. He stumbled around on deck, yelling at crew members, threatening to keelhaul them or fed them to the sharks. Anna-Maria was not much better, only in a different fashion. She had avoided people at all costs, whether up in the sails, or down below deck. Cotton had even caught her once hiding in the brig.   
  
When Ellie opened the door, she was wearing a charming little dress and shoes, with a matching ribbon. She would have looked like a little angel if it wasn't for the grass stains on her knees. When she had seen Jack and Anna-Maria standing there, she had cried,   
  
"JACK! ANNA!" She had hugged Jack first, wrapping her arms around his waist. The shoes gave her a little more height, but Jack didn't know that, and he gave a wistful thought to how much she had grown, the kind that only a parent can give. She then turned her attentions to Anna-Maria, hugging her just as hard. Anna-Maria looked a little shocked, but definitely pleased.   
  
Will and Elizabeth had heard Ellie's shouts and they appeared in the foyer, looking very pleased to see the two pirates on their doorstep.   
  
"Jack! Anna-Maria! Come in, please," said Elizabeth, opening the door wider. "Ellie, darling, you better let go of Anna-Maria, or she won't be able to walk."   
  
Ellie let go reluctantly and stepped back. This gave Elizabeth the chance to see the front of her dress, and she moaned, only a little mad,   
  
"Oh, Ellie, your dress! That's going to take me a good bit of work to get out!"   
  
"Sorry, 'Lizabeth," apologized Ellie, unabashed, and untruthfully. She had a wide grin on her face, and she took both Jack and Anna-Maria's hands to lead them into the house. As she went, she gave neither of her two surrogate parents the chance to speak, because she immediately started rattling on and on to Jack and Anna-Maria about school, her friends, her room.  
  
And it was in that moment that Jack knew he had done the right thing.   
  
The End  
  
A/N: Well, readers, we have reached the end of our journey! I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think; which characters you thought were in character, and which were not, whether it got a little too mushy or not, and most importantly, whether or not you thought the ending was too abupt or if I should add a bit about Jack's thoughts. Thanks a lot! Jack says thank you, too, and he WILL be accepting fanmail, and giving out kisses to ALL reviewers. Thank you much! 


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